Continuous combustion type rotating combustion products generator and turbine



Sept. 30, 1952 A. A. ZUHN CONTINUOUS COMBUSTION TYPE ROTATING COMBUSTION PRODUCTS GENERATOR AND TURBINE Flled May 12, 1947 Q 1 g W INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 30, 1952 ING ECOMBUSTION a g ATQR AN 1 TURBINE zi'Ai-flthnr' Afiwodfzuhn, "Peoria County, '11]. iamification-May :12, 1942;;Se'riai Noz$74237 .LLClaimJ (c1. com-39.34

I ,--My-;inventionwrelatessto a; device. for, producin anewe v ifrom lemming e bYkI flOn.-0f combustion gases It primarily .-,intended {ore-P use aircraft propellers and (helicopter rotors. The device is lighter andhasfeweriworkingrpartS; -than-;--the' conventional internal combustion engines.

An exemplificationbf my invention is set forth in; the accompanyiugt drawing w herein Figure 1 is a front view andpartial. section taken fromJine ,|-.l Elga through a typical embodiment of the-invention;

Eigazzis a side view and partial sectionitirom line 2-1-2 Fig. 1;

Figs. 3.-is,-a'. sectional .iviewrtaken-gfrom. lined-.3 Rig; z-gthrough one/oi the. blades; Rig; 4-.:isi.a sectional viewtltaken fromglineA-i-ii Fig. 1-1 througha setrof. compressor bladesrauand Fig-:55 shows anvobliqueiviewotthe parts relative to the iiuel-airi mixing:.;.:chamber.

Theaceompanying drawing 'exemplifiesizthe'r in- .ventionassa pusheritype,aircrafta-propellerphow- -ever,athis; does not. restrict itsiuse, but isIor-sconvenience in .zillustratinsrhe.. r-val ur Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the-several views. I

E' Wi-th reference to the 'drawing: my invention iccmprisea. in-v generaL- a -sui-table mounting 6,

an air compressor-comprised'btstationaryblades and revolving blades- 8 a fuel-"supply line" 20, a fuel nozzle or orifices 9. a number of valves [0. an annular shaped combustion chamber H, a

number of exhaust ducts I2, a means of ignition l3. a number of auxiliary air valves IS, a number of nozzles 16, a number of auxiliary air ducts having-exteriors in the shape of a suitable airfoil I1, and a suitable bearing l8.

Air is taken-into a number of stationary blades 1. Air leaving this set of blades is divided by a circularv shaped wall 42 into two parts. One part flows around, adjacent to, and cools the chamber II; and the other through a number of rotating blades 8 and then to the chamber valves l0.

Fuel is fed from the supply line through a number of nozzles or orifices 9 into and mixed with the air going to the chamber valves Ill. Mixing is accomplished by the revolution of the wall 42. chamber II, and last set of revolving blades while the fuel nozzles or orifices are stationary.

The cylindrical wall 42 is attached to the blades 8 and at the rear to combustion chamber II. The forward part of the wall 42 is separated by a gap from the rear part and is held by the rotating blades 8. Rotating blades 8 are attached PRODUCTS FGENER- berz" I 'Ifms-tn mnits proper Ben n :to',thez cembustionaichember I l fo ms 1 =1nixi-ng;- chamber I 4 :11'1 which; the: .fuelvdrcnr the nozzlesfl andaa porticnot the air-from the-compressor mix t rzform an explosive :mixture-wvt'lh nozzles ,9 and they fuel-inlet tube 20 are assembled through .iholes;- in the hollowqmountin the Stationary; nozzles-:9:extendingl throughthe above mentioned;v gap inthe. ,,-rotating;-wall 42. The combustionrchamber valvesdliarepivoted nearztheirihuh edgestand sowprop rt eued :to have a ;natnral- ;rfrequency of :csciHatien Mme-bal a heipp oner relationztos thenatursequ ucvant theagaseszzin.theaexhaustttubee h .ingztiming; inarelationx tot,the;;pressure rise and fall in thezpexhaust tubetfliandyehamber H- The air and,"fuehsmixture;;-zis;1drawn;; chamber ,llsand -exhaustn2tubex:l 2 thr ghixthe chamber :valves 10 by-vtherdiflerential; ,ressure caused by; the reduced pressur ::inth r. ha he ul-l and; therincreasedpressure :p The reduced pressurein thephfimber I1 a; ed ,by the-inertia efEect ofethe;gases..leavipg;theenoz- .zles-wrrom .the'previousrexplosion. I .;The=:...annular Shaped".,;combu stiongchamber: l| 'formsea: common, connection-mithathe -ex haus t tubes l2, .:-This provides equalrreactien e-ithennropeller. bl d s :sby e ue sa ig sure; wi-isince theirrea ti ns e -equal',..;:the. e e ZOLi fQB than-thrust. :1,

The mixture is ignited by external means, a residual incandescent object, or a number of spark plugs l3.

The portion of air from stationary blades 1 which flows'around the combustion chamber II and tubes '12 is heated by transfer through the walls of the chamber and tubes cooling them to workable temperatures. This air is then drawn through the auxiliary air valves l5 at a time when the inertia of the combustion chamber gases has lowered the pressure in the region of valves I 5. The added mass of auxiliary air ahead of the explosion slug is accelerated and expelled through nozzles I 6 thus adding to the reaction. If auxiliary air valves are not provided a reverse flow takes place at tip nozzles 18 after the inertia of The pendulum type pivoted valves are so proportioned to have a natural frequency that is a multiple of propeller speed. This makes possible the use of a simple timer in the ignition 3 system. The period of any pendulum is inversely proportional to the square root of the strength of the acceleration field. In the arrangement of my present invention the pendulum type valves, both combustion chamber inlet I and auxiliary air [5, are actuated by the combination of pressure variations and acceleration due to centrifugal effects. The' strength of this acceleration is directly proportional to square of the propeller speed, therefore the resulting period of these valves is always inversely proportional to the propeller speed and is the same as the period of the ignition timer for all propeller speeds. The

at operating speed.

that the present disclosure has been made only by the way of example and that numerous changes in details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is: I 1 i A reactionm'otor comprising, in combination, a bearing,'a'mounting supporting said bearing, a fuel inlet tube, one or more fuel nozzles or orifices receiving fuel from said tube, an air compressor delivering apart of its air to a mixing The auxiliary air valves [5 are'alsoso timedby having the correct frequency of oscillation to be closing or closed at the time the initial pres- ;sure wave reaches them. These auxiliary air -'va lvesare pivoted near their hub edges and :so proportioned to have a natural frequency which is in proper relation to the natural frefluency of the gases in the combustion tube [2 *andchamber li, in the case of the chamber valves [0. The products of combustion andair are prevented from flowing toward the center of the propeller by valves "Ill and IS. The rapid rise fin-pressure resulting from the explosions in the tube [2 and chamber Ii cause the gasesto now through the nozzles 16 to the atmosphere at a rapid rate. This rapid increase in velocity of the gases produces a force reaction at the tips of the'blades which revolves the propeller. Revolution of the propeller" airioilscauses a thrust on bearing i8. This thrustis transmitted to the aircraft by'a suitable mounting'fi.

The "rapid expansion of the gases in the 'exhaust tubes 12 and chamber ll causes a lowermg "ofpressure therein until a difierential in pressure exists across the valves Hl'and- IS. The valves are so timed to swing open when this condition exists. The outer end of the exhaust tube I2 is then refilledwith auxiliary air which has flowed around, adjacent to, and cooled the exhaust tube l2 and chamber l I; while the inner 'end'of the exhaust tube 12 and chamber ii-are refilled with an explosive mixture of air and tuel. The entire cycle'is then continuously repeated.

- Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood mixture in said chamber, a number of exhaust a Number tubes connected to said annular combustion chamber, a number of pendulum type centrifugally motivated auxiliary "air valves which control the how of a portion or the air from the stationary blades'of the compressor to the exhaust tubes, and a nozzle at the outer end'oi' each exhaust tube.

ARTHUR 'ATI W ZUHN. REFERENCES orrirn The following references are of record the file of this-patent:

' UNITED STATE$ PATENTS" Number Name V'Date 684,743 Burger Oct. 15. 1901 1,021,521 Hroult Mar. 26,1912 1,569,607 ..'-Jan. 12, 1926 1,907,512 L. May 9, 1933 2,272,128 Feb. 3, 1942 2,371,687 i Mar. 20, .1945 2,397,357 Mar. 26, 1946 2,481,235 'Parr Sept. 6, 1949 2,499,863 Hart M84127, 1950 2,508,673 'x-' .Guthier May'23, 'l950 "FoREI'G 'rAfrE'nTs I Country JIDate p i Great Britain Jam 12/1925 366,450 Great Britain 1982 585,208 France 1'. Ilec. 4,' 192$ 648,107 France "Aug. "7, 1928 Gerhardt Kundig' 

